Biogeosciences www.biogeosciences.net 1726-4170 1726-4189 5 6 2008 10.5194/bg-5-1669-2008 http://www.biogeosciences.net/5/1669/2008/ http://www.biogeosciences.net/5/1669/2008/bg-5-1669-2008.html http://www.biogeosciences.net/5/1669/2008/bg-5-1669-2008.pdf 1669 1679 2008-12-11 Temporal variability of the anthropogenic CO₂ storage in the Irminger Sea F. F. Pérez fiz.perez@iim.csic.es M. Vázquez-Rodríguez E. Louarn X. A. Padín H. Mercier A. F. Ríos Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas, CSIC, Eduardo Cabello 6, 36208 Vigo, Spain Laboratoire de Chimie Marine, Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Plouzané, France Station Biologique de Roscoff, CNRS UPMC, B.P. 74, 29682 Roscoff, France Laboratoire de Physique des Océans, CNRS Ifremer IRD UBO, IFREMER Centre de Brest, B.P. 70, 29280 Plouzané, France The anthropogenic CO₂ (C_ant) estimates from cruises spanning more than two decades (1981–2006) in the Irminger Sea area of the North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre reveal a large variability in the C_ant storage rates. During the early 1990's, the C_ant storage rates (2.3&plusmn;0.6 mol C m^&minus;2 yr^&minus;1) doubled the average rate for 1981–2006 (1.1&plusmn;0.1 mol C m^&minus;2 yr^&minus;1), whilst a remarkable drop to almost half that average followed from 1997 onwards. 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